Splitting your sales team into prospectors and closers can have many advantages. By dedicating sales development reps (SDRs) to researching, prospecting, and qualifying buyers, and account executives to closing, organizations can maximize efficiency and output.
Employing a team of SDRs also creates a training ground for future sales reps who will live and breathe your personas and process before they ever carry a quota.
But these benefits aren’t easy to come by. Building a successful sales development team takes hard work and a thoughtful strategy.
For example, how long will you spend onboarding SDRs? According to a survey from The Bridge Group of 355 B2B companies, it takes an average of 3.3 months for a new SDR to reach full productivity. SDRs who ramp in three months or less achieve 29% higher performance than those who are onboarded more slowly.
This infographic from OnePageCRM has more insights into building and managing an SDR team.